Hi all:

I own an '87 240 DL auto. It just turned 245K miles and has the original engine and transmission. It's in pretty darn good physical shape and runs well. My mechanic says the engine is probably good for at least another 50K miles. The transmission seals have a tiny leak but otherwise the transmission seems pretty solid.

Excluding tires and normal maintenance I've put about $2,000 into the car since November 2002 or an average of $60 per month. I didn't realize I'd put so much into the car over the past 3 years.

I currently get about 22-23 mpg for city driving and around 25 mpg for highway driving. I admit it; I have a lead foot.

The air conditioning currently installed (an aftermarket product installed by the original owners when the car was purchased in northern California) no longer cools. Mechanically the A/C runs but it needs to be recharged and my mechanic tells me it's illegal to do so. He says that I have to install a new A/C to meet current emission standards. He quoted me $400-450 for the parts and labor.

I live in south Florida near West Palm Beach. I personally don't mind driving around in an un-air condititioned car but my dates here look at me askance when they discover the situation. Go ahead and laugh; I thought the peer pressure thing ended when I left high school. :-)

I'm wondering if it makes sense, financially and otherwise, to do this? I figure I'm going to take at least a 20% performance hit in MPG with the A/C running. With regular gas prices pushing $3/gallon here I'm having trouble justifying a $450 investment for the privilege of paying even more each week at the pump.

My other options are (1) tough out the peer pressure thing or (2) sell the car and pick up a used late model (e.g. 2003 or 2004) air conditioned Accord or Camry. That way I get a nice bump in fuel efficiency and a car that can last another 5-10 years.

Comments?